Those who have lived for hundreds or even thousands of years truly know how to conduct themselves.
Rather than forcing a sense of obligation by insisting Lu Zheng use only his materials, Yi Qingtian first confirmed what Lu Zheng had obtained from his sect, then supplemented it accordingly.
Inwardly, Lu Zheng thought, You really did not need to be so considerate of my feelings. You could have just overwhelmed me with even better materials!
Ahem, only joking, of course.
Since Yi Qingtian had already put it that way, it would have been rude for Lu Zheng to refuse again.
So Lu Zheng drew a deep breath, nodded, and said, “Many thanks, Brother Yi. In that case, I shall accept without further ceremony!”
“Good, good, good!”
The happiest person upon Lu Zheng’s acceptance was actually Yi Qingtian himself. He nodded repeatedly. “Little Brother Lu, no need to stand on ceremony. I have nothing to do most days except fly about the sky. With my sharp eyesight, I often I stumble upon all sorts of odd treasures.”
“Oh, right, the Bi Luo Qing Xia!” Saying this, Yi Qingtian waved his hand, and two leather pouches appeared in his palm.
This time Lu Zheng saw clearly: the pouches had flown out from a leather bracer on Yi Qingtian’s wrist.
“This is two hundred years’ worth of Bi Luo Qing Xia from Mount Qingqi. See if it is enough?”
“Enough, enough, more than enough! No, I mean I cannot possibly use it all!” Lu Zheng jumped in fright and hurriedly waved his hands.
He was only half-joking. Feather Mountain supplied its entire sect with the sword-qi aurora produced by one mountain, yet two centuries of Mount Qingqi’s Bi Luo Qing Xia probably amounted to a third or even half of everything Yi Qingtian had collected.
Lu Zheng quickly added, “Three years’ worth is sufficient for a single sword. Twenty-seven years in total is already an overwhelming favour!”
“Twenty-seven years? That would barely do,” Yi Qingtian blinked, then pushed both pouches forward. “It is fine. Take them all. If you do not use it this time, save it for later. I hardly ever need this aurora myself. Even when I do, I have kept plenty aside.”
“No, no, really, it is too much. I truly cannot use it all.”
Lu Zheng could not simply accept everything without restraint. He hurriedly refused. “Brother Yi, let us do it this way. If I need more in future, I will come straight to you and will not stand on ceremony then!”
Seeing that Lu Zheng genuinely meant it, Yi Qingtian grinned and took one step back. “Very well. But I know Feather Mountain’s sword-refining method. Three years of aurora per sword is indeed far from the limit.”
He withdrew one pouch, leaving the other. “Little Brother Lu, you must not refuse this one!”
Lu Zheng gave a wry smile and shook his head. “A hundred years’ worth of Bi Luo Qing Xia? Even if I wanted to refuse, I could not bear to!”
Yi Qingtian roared with laughter and poured more tea for both Lu Zheng and Shen Ying.
“It is growing late. Little brother and little sister-in-law, stay the night here,” Yi Qingtian said. “Moreover, since we have enough materials now, you may as well refine the swords on the mountain tomorrow. The astral winds at the summit of Mount Qingqi carry a trace of ethereal emptiness. That will benefit the forging of Feather Mountain flying swords.”
Lu Zheng glanced at Shen Ying. She naturally deferred to him, so he nodded. “Since Brother Yi is so hospitable, we shall impose upon you.”
Yi Qingtian waved the words away with a laugh. “No imposition at all. I live alone all year round and sometimes feel lonely. A bit of company is welcome.”
Lu Zheng smiled at that. “The night is falling, and I suspect Brother Yi does not often cook for himself. Allow this little brother to show off his skills tonight.”
Yi Qingtian blinked. Living alone, he rarely ate. When he felt peckish, he would simply catch a mountain goat or wild ox, revert to his demon form, and swallow it whole. He had no need to cook, so the cave naturally had no kitchen.
Lu Zheng stepped outside, found a sheltered spot, patted his gourd, and an entire set of stove, firewood, pots, pans, ingredients, condiments, fruits, and vegetables appeared.
“By the way, Brother Yi, do you drink?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Of course,” Yi Qingtian nodded. “I have some fine wine I bought in Luzhou Prefecture stored in the cave. Tonight we brothers shall drink our fill!”
The corner of Lu Zheng’s mouth curved. “When Brother Yi visited Dingfeng Mountain, did Brother Hu not treat you to Five-Grain Spirit?”
“He did. He also served an aged Huadiao wine. Both were excellent. But Old Hu said the Five-Grain Spirit was a gift from a friend and Dingfeng Mountain had very little of it. I asked for a few jars and he would not… hm?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “This humble one is precisely the brewer of both Five-Grain Spirit and Huadiao.”
Yi Qingtian’s eyes lit up and he swallowed audibly.
With a casual wave, Lu Zheng produced twenty jars of Five-Grain Spirit and twenty jars of Huadiao. “I brewed this much last time. Brother Yi, please do not think it too little.”
“Not little at all, not little at all!” Yi Qingtian said cheerfully. “Last time Old Hu treated me, we only opened two jin of Five-Grain Spirit and one jin of Huadiao. Tonight we shall open just one jar.”
Lu Zheng shook his head. “These are gifts for Brother Yi. We must not open them tonight. I have brought other wine, more than enough for this evening.”
So saying, he took out two smaller three-jin jars and handed them to Shen Ying. “Take these and the fruit inside the cave for now.”
Shen Ying smiled, nodded, gave Yi Qingtian a slight nod of acknowledgement while carrying the jars and fresh fruit, and entered the cave.
…
They ate and drank to their hearts’ content. The night passed peacefully.
Early the next morning, Lu Zheng arrived at the summit of Mount Qingqi to begin sword refining.
Refining flying swords from metallic materials was entirely different from Shen Ying simply carving a peach-wood sword and leaving it beneath an ancient peach tree to nurture. Metal required intense flames to melt and shape.
Truth be told, Lu Zheng ought to have taken the materials back to the modern world to refine them.
Yet the crucial stage of forming the artefact was best performed here. That stage required inscribing vast numbers of artefact-refining talismans, integrating heavenly spiritual qi of heaven and earth, even the mysterious ethereal emptiness carried in Mount Qingqi’s astral winds.
This created quite an awkward dilemma.
Fortunately, Yi Qingtian solved the problem. He possessed a square cauldron specially made for artefact refining. As long as one channelled true qi, demonic power, or blood qi into it, raging flames would rise within, perfect for forging. Moreover, those flames contained one’s own power, so any artefact refined with them would later respond even more smoothly, like an extension of one’s own limbs.
Lu Zheng was speechless. What was this, human-fuelled fire or womb-nurtured bonding? It sounded deeply unscientific.
Nevertheless, he began.
He poured true qi into the cauldron. Flames roared to life. Then he tossed all three types of material inside together.
As expected of a specialised refining cauldron, the flames infused with Lu Zheng’s true qi quickly melted the Cloud-Patterned Iron, then the Flowing Light Refined Gold, and finally the Intermittent Spirit Gold.
Using true qi to manipulate the materials, he formed the sword bodies from Intermittent Spirit Gold, the sword spines from Cloud-Patterned Iron, and the cutting edges from Flowing Light Refined Gold. The metals fused together, creating flying swords that shimmered with flowing light.
In no time at all, the chunks of metal had completely melted and combined into nine flying swords.
While continuously tempering the swords with sword qi from the Flying Feather Aurora Riding Sword Scripture, Lu Zheng sprinkled in Bi Luo Qing Xia, letting the aurora merge into the blades.
Soon, each sword had absorbed nearly five years’ worth of Bi Luo Qing Xia. Every blade glowed with a faint cyan aurora.
“Almost there!” Lu Zheng laughed.
Yi Qingtian nodded. Then, just before the swords reached final completion, he flicked his sleeve. Nine silver pinion feathers shot out and instantly plunged into the cauldron and the sword bodies.
“Quick! Refine my feathers into the swords. It will increase their speed by another twenty percent and their sharpness by ten percent!”
Lu Zheng inhaled deeply. This was no time for idle talk. He circulated his sword qi madly, flooding the nine blades, transforming the nine feathers into nine sigils that he imprinted onto the swords’ cores.
The next instant, the swords, now wholly cyan and wreathed in drifting clouds of aurora, flashed once with silver light along their length before the glow vanished.
Silver Feather Azure Aurora Swords, complete!
